How to Rebuild an Ancient Order without Losing Your Sanity
by Rose Layla Evans
Summary: *SEQUEL* It will be fun they said. Oh you won't have that many problems getting the different races to cooperate, we just fought a war together. Wild dragons? How different can they really be? You'll totally have time for your relationship. Ha.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Make Friends! (Or at Least Allies)

Taliesin had her tail loosely wrapped around my neck and was perched on my shoulder, which seemed to be her favorite position (during the day at least, at night she preferred curling up on Saphira). She had also attacked my hair ribbons and tangled them into a mess. After a scolding from me, she left them alone and contented herself with playing with the laces of my shoes and batting at falling leaves.

Taliesin chased after a butterfly, jumped and used her claws to dig into the bark of a tree to propel her upwards. Then she got cocky and tried to jump up and land further on the tree which resulted in her landing on the forest floor with a thoroughly disgruntled expression as she watched the butterfly fly away.

I laughed. She looked at me with a betrayed expression and jumped up onto Eragon's shoulder instead, pointedly ignoring me.

I could feel flashes of irritation and slight embarrassment from her.

"I can feel her, or at least her emotions."

Eragon glanced at me. "It's probably because you are used to communicating with Saphira. You're more sensitive to the bond than I was."

It was strange having something so alien fit seamlessly into my mental landscape.

LINE BREAK

The first meeting between Taliesin and the elves did not endear them to her. Like usual the sentries greeted us with bows drawn, proper protocols needing to be observed and all that. Taliesin leaped from my shoulder and landed in front of me, wings outstretched, teeth bared, and let out a growl. Three bows lowered immediately, the rest following suit after a few tersely barked orders. She only relaxed after several minutes passed without them redrawing their weapons. Then she ignored them. (I was starting to see a pattern here and prepared for a future of the silent treatment whenever we argued.)

The leader glanced at my marked palm and said a respectful "Argetlam." We were soon on our way to the capitol.

LINE BREAK

Arya greeted us just outside the city. I was preparing the, "Guess what? I'm a Dragon Rider now!" speech when I saw the green dragon and Arya's marked palm. My eyebrows shot up and I revised my previous thought of Taliesin as the first dragon of the new age. She uncurled her tail from my shoulder and ran to greet him, touching her nose briefly to his before she walked back to me at a much more sedate pace.

 _Eragon, Saphira, and Raisa. We welcome you back to Ellesméra._

His voice was deeper than I expected and he seemed a little…unsure? Not an attribute I would normally associate with a dragon.

That was when I noticed that Saphira was eyeing Fírnen with interest and her body language had changed. Well then, this was going to be memorable. I shifted some so I was blocking Taliesin's view as Saphira launched herself at Fírnen.

Taliesin squawked and when she attempted to get around me I said, "You are much too young for this."

Saphira with more consideration than she usually showed, led him out of sight and earshot. Which left me, Eragon, and Arya standing in a clearing with an inquisitive hatchling who had her claws fastened onto my dress. Awkward.

 **A/N Hello! So the chapters of this story are going to be around 500-1000 words long and will skip around in time more than my previous story. For the next chapter would you rather: go back in time and focus on how Eragon and Raisa became betrothed and relationship type stuff, flash a little forward to them actually beginning to rebuild the Dragon Riders (which is going to be the basis of the plot along with relationship type stuff), or no preference? Let me know in a review! You guys are awesome.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Make Sure You Actually Have a Private Life (It Can't All Be About Politics)

Eragon led me through the streets of the capitol (name still pending, Nasuada hadn't made up her mind yet) and he absolutely refused to tell me where we were going. It was just a little bit frustrating. But I was trying to not let it get to me since this was the first time in weeks we had managed to spend more than ten minutes together. There was plenty of being in the same meetings, but since they were about restructuring the government they didn't count.

The stars were starting to peek out and the breeze was tangling my hair, so much for brushing it.

"Close your eyes."

"This is ridiculous." But I closed them anyway.

He put one hand on my back and took my left hand in his.

"Step up."

I did so. We walked for another minute or so before he stopped. He let go of me and moved further behind me.

"Open them."

"With the way you've built this up I'm expecting something pretty spectacular."

I opened my eyes.

I saw the lanterns first. They cast a soft pinkish yellow light on the stone path that meandered through. There were flowers everywhere, reminiscent of the ones he had showed me in Ellesméra. When I turned around he was holding a flower crown. I laughed and let him put it on my head.

"I'm impressed, where did you learn to do that?"

He shrugged. "Well I did cheat a little, I used magic."

I hugged him. He immediately wrapped his arms around me, one hand tangling in my hair, the other draped across my waist.

"Thank you, I love it."

It became a tradition after that, to try to steal an hour or two of alone time. To be able to talk without the threat of battle hanging over our heads.

"You really want to know?" I said.

"Yes, I really do want to know."

We were sitting on a blanket on the grass, remnants of desserts strewn between us.

"My first serious crush was on a boy who was fostering at a neighbors estate. We had a few lessons together, some dinner parties."

"What happened?"

"He went back home and that was the end of that. It's your turn."

"Arya."

"Well that explains some things."

"I think I got caught up in the idea of her. I had rescued her and then raced against time to save her life."

"Sounds like something out of a ballad."

He nodded. "It just wasn't real, not like you."

I blushed a little, and then blushed more because I knew he had better vision than me and could see it.

"Charmer."

"You love it."

I rolled my eyes. "I put up with it because I love you." Cheeks still burning, I avoided his eyes.

LINE BREAK

That was why I was taken off guard when I walked into the garden three months later. I could tell that he was nervous, but attributed it to the fact that tomorrow we were meeting with a delegation from the Dwarves and Urgals to hammer out the details of how to transport the eggs so each race had a fair chance to become Riders.

I kissed him. When I pulled back he took ahold of my hands and knelt on the path. Having a vague inkling of where this was going, I watched him with wide eyes.

"Raisa, will you marry me?"

I grinned and sort of threw myself into his arms and started laughing from giddiness, then I realized I hadn't actually answered him.

"Yes, yes I'll marry you!"

Now all I had to do was keep my wedding from turning into a political event. Yay.

 **A/N A big thank you to:Queen-of-Ice101, darkwolf7, Krafty kaci, Nightsky1290, and I ship them for leaving a review! And thank you to those who have followed/favorited this story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Know Your Strengths

"You want to establish a guard made up from each race to ferry the eggs back and forth."

Arya looked as serene as ever.

"Yes, the rest have already agreed and have chosen their representative," Eragon said.

They were speaking in the Ancient Language.

I was sitting quietly at one end of the table, trying not to move as Taliesin had thought it would be a great idea to take a nap on my lap. Since that meant she wasn't trying to get into anything or have more climbing adventures, I let her sleep. The elves were no help and attempted to spoil her rotten. It was at that point I usually sequestered us into our treehouse and practiced communicating with each other.

"Where will the eggs start?" Arya's eyebrows furrowed slightly, the first sign of actual emotion I had seen from her.

I had my suspicions that it was her (along with most of her race) that had taught Eragon how to speak and act like a politician. A mask that had taken a lot of effort on my part to crack. Remembering my earlier promise to deliver a long rant about the trouble it had caused me, I decided it was better for diplomatic relations if I kept it to myself.

"With the Dwarves." Eragon had a politely bland expression of interest.

As I looked at the two of them, I came to the realization that I was the only one at the table who was showing any real expression. But since I was basically being ignored (at least on the surface, I could still feel the hum of Eragon's mind) and since i was still recovering from the last round of meetings, decided that I didn't really care.

"And after?"

"The Urgals. Here after them. Humans last."

She leaned back slightly in her chair. "I see. I suppose it is only fair for the races who have no Riders to go first."

A simple point which had taken days to come to agreement on back at the capitol. Thinking back on it brought the ghost of a pounding headache with it.

"I will have our choice by the end of the week."

And then we were dismissed.

LINE BREAK

I was on my bed, laying on my stomach with four books spread out around me researching magical warding. If we were really going to build a city on some island I wanted it to be as secure as possible and built to last. The books I had spread out referenced each other often enough that just the attempt to read one of them had left me completely lost.

While reaching to turn the page of one of the books, my elbow nudged the one that was situated on the edge of the bed. The laws of gravity being what they are, it fell onto the floor.

I stared at it grumpily.

It lay there stubbornly.

I inched my way downwards to grab it but my arm was too short. If I scooted any further I would fall off the bed. So I began the process of lifting myself back onto the bed without tumbling off it.

After I had successfully planted my elbows on the bed, I went back to glaring at the book.

Frustrated, I reached towards the book (knowing it was a futile effort) and said "Rise."

To my utter shock, it did.

It hovered at eyelevel for a few seconds before I came to my senses and grabbed it. I could feel an ache near the part of my mind I associated with Taliesin, like it was sore.

I sat up, still holding the book.

Taliesin poked her head upside down through the window, anchored to the outside of the roof. I could feel smugness and pride radiating from her. Because apparently, I had just done magic.

"Well, that's new."

 **A/N A great big thank you to those who reviewed: darkwolf76, Krafty kaci, Queen-of-Ice101, Random Dude, Nightsky1290, So Super Silent, Turtlekier42, and ShadowManipulator7. And to those of you who have followed and favorited.  
**

 **I am putting together a playlist for this story and the previous one. Songs that remind me of certain characters/scenes/relationships and overall feel of the story. Do you guys have any song suggestions? (Nothing explicit, please) Let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Keep Testing Yourself (But You Should Stop Before Passing Out From Exhaustion)

It's something that's been in the back of my mind since Taliesin hatched. She was capable of short flights, but not nearly strong enough to make it back. We couldn't stay much longer among the Elves. The only solution I could think of was that she stay on Saphira's back.

Saphira agreed and Taliesin seemed okay with it. Now we only waited for Arya's answer. In the meantime, I received magic lessons.

"You already have an advantage over when I first started, you know the language," Eragon said.

I stared at the rock on the table. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it. It was a sandy color with jagged edges roughly the length of my thumb. I picked it up with my right hand and stared at it for a few more seconds. In theory, it should be easier because it was much lighter than a book.

In theory.

Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly as frustrated or upset now as I had been when I had first done magic.

That put quite a wrench in the whole exercise.

I closed my eyes and sort of…poked at the bond I shared with my dragon.

Taliesin grumbled.

The ache in my head had dissipated a little less than an hour after I had levitated the book, but now it would be rather useful in locating the source of my magic.

I followed a thread of my bond and promptly ran into a mental wall. I winced, and then determinedly looked for a way through. It was my mind and my magic and it would bend to my will, not the other way around.

The more I concentrated on it the more solid it appeared in my mind's eye, till it came into sharp focus.

The wall in front of me was stone, with faint violet light shining through minute cracks. I trailed my hand across the cracks, followed them down to the foundation. Here the chinks were bigger and the rocks didn't fit so neatly together.

I pulled at the stone, dislodged some of the smaller ones. I pulled again and again until it crumpled.

The light briefly increased in intensity before settling down.

I withdrew from the bond, focused on the rock in my hand and said "Rise."

And rise it did. It wobbled and only left my hand by scant inches but it stayed suspended in the air. I held the spell until my hand started to shake and my head throbbed. I released it and looked up.

Eragon was kneeling next to me and as soon as I looked at him I was pulled into his arms and he pressed kisses into my hair.

My whole body started to shake slightly and he pulled away to look at me.

"You overdid it." He touched the side of my face. "I told you to let go of it." There was anger in the way he held himself.

"At least I didn't pass out."

Some of the tension left him. He looked away from me and ran a hand through his hair.

I tugged on the sleeve of his tunic. "Hey, look at me. I'm fine. I stopped in plenty of time."

He pulled me close to him again. Before he did I caught a glimpse of another emotion lingering in his eyes, fear.

 **A/N Thank you to: ShadowManipulator7, Guest, Nightsky1290, Queen-of-Ice101, Turtlekier4, Best Random Dude, and JustBenifet (times 3!) Listen to I Think I Like You by Sirenxx. It really describes Eragon's feelings at the beginning, especially the chorus. If you could meet a character from the Inheritance Cycle, who would it be and why? Oh, and I haven't forgotten about Murtagh :)  
**


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